Winners will receive their awards but the lavish ceremony will be dropped

The Golden Globes ceremony has been cancelled and replaced with a news conference because of the strike by writers over royalties.

The winners will now be revealed at an hour-long press conference replacing the usual dinner and ceremony.

Actors had said they would not cross picket lines in support of writers.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since November over "residuals" - royalties for work distributed online or on DVD.

The dispute has brought to a standstill the production of nearly all TV comedy and drama shows.

Clooney support

The conference revealing the film and TV award winners will take place at 1800 local time on Sunday (0200 GMT Monday) in Beverly Hills.

We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived

Jorge CamaraHollywood Foreign Press Association

The WGA has yet to decide whether it will call off its planned picket of the event.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the event, had earlier said it was striving to find a compromise allowing the event to take place "with the creative community present".

President Jorge Camara said: "We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favourite stars."

Speaking at Monday's Critics' Choice Awards - which went ahead because it is not covered by WGA-disputed contracts - actor George Clooney said he was a member of six unions and would not cross any picket lines.

"Our hope is that all the players involved will lock themselves in a room and not come out until they finish - we want this to be done," he added.

Meanwhile, Oscars organisers say they are confident they will be able to "do the kind of show the public expects of us" on 24 February.

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told the Los Angeles Times: "We really think we can work out some sort of agreement that will allow us to do a traditional Academy Awards broadcast."

Interim agreements

The Golden Globes announcement means the WGA has struck a double blow in its battle over residuals.

On Monday, it reached an agreement to resume working with Tom Cruise's film company, United Artists.

The guild said "key issues of writers" in the dispute had been addressed.

Late-night host David Letterman was off the air for two months

In recent weeks, the WGA has been in talks with independent companies to reach interim agreements.

A similar deal was recently reached with TV host David Letterman's production company, enabling his show to return.

Meanwhile, comedian Jon Stewart has returned to US TV for the first time since the writers' strike began.

But his satire show, being produced without guild writers, has returned as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart rather than the usual The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The new show would be running "from now on, until the end of the strike", he added.

On Saturday, the Screen Actors' Guild, the union which represents Hollywood actors, said there was "unanimous agreement" among members not to cross picket lines set up by writers.

The WGA thanked the actors' union for its "solidarity and support".

It says it is engaged in a "crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come".